Articles tagged with: Germany

German rooftops about this size accounted for over 18 GW of solar that was installed there last year. German solar power has been very rapidly expanding, because it has generous Feed-in Tariffs that pay solar owners to make power for the grid. This is a sensible policy, as the prospect of earning money is what motivates people to overcome procrastination on solar, as Al Gore pointed out a few years ago when he went to congress and suggested the electranet.
But the size of the systems with the most growth is interesting. As you can see from the graph below the jump, thanks to Paul Gipe at Energy Bulletin, it is not the small homeowner-sized systems that is driving this increase, so much as the next size ...

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) has reported that solar photovoltaic (PV) power increased by 16 GW in 2010 around the world, approximately double the increase seen in 2009.
Despite the continued financial crisis, falling solar prices around the world, good government subsidies (particularly in Germany and Italy), and an interest in addressing accelerated climate change helped to make 2010 such a successful year for the solar photovoltaic industry.
Cumulative solar capacity is now at 40 GW, 70% higher than the 23 GW it was at at the end of 2009.
Europe, alone, added about 13 GW of new solar power installations in 2010. Clearly, leading the world. Feed-in tariff programs in Germany and Italy, where nearly 7 GW and approximately 3 GW were added, respectively, were a major driver of 2010′s growth.
“Solar PV is continuing to develop in countries ...

One of the most difficult areas for the development of green transportation so far has to be the aviation industry. Some examples of success do exist in that area when you consider that the United States Navy has had some success when it comes to flying a biofuel powered test fighter and a partially biofuel powered passenger airliner was flown back in 2008 by Virgin Atlantic. Yet, while it is true that there are plenty of organizations working on developing alternative fuels for aircraft, the fact remains that there are no major biofuel power aircraft currently operating on any regular schedule. Lufthansa is looking to change that.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, a German based airline company that boasts the largest passenger volume of all European airline companies, has announced that in 2011 they will begin flying a biofuel powered aircraft on ...